The 25 best travel apps

There are lots of apps that can enhance your travelling experience. Here are a
few of our favourites.

Triposo Free, iPhone, iPad and Android Though there are travel-guide apps from existing publications (such as Wallpaper* City Guides and Condé Nast Traveler), none are so optimised for mobile as Triposo. International information can often be outdated, but this app from two ‘ex-Googlers’ who claim to ‘have an algorithmic approach to travel’ has access to information on 8,000 destinations using sources from wikitravel and openstreetmap, and is remarkably accurate. An internet connection is not needed to access the guide and useful features include a currency converter, phrase book and active suggestions for exploration dependent on the day, weather and opening hours.

TripIt Free, iPhone and iPad Whether your journey is for a few days or several months, keeping track of trip details is a universal pain. TripIt offers an easy solution, saving your itineraries in a simple, scannable format on your smartphone. Simply email your flight, hotel, or car rental confirmations to TripIt and the app will organise everything for you. Say goodbye to the tattered folder and endless paper jumbled at the bottom of your bag.

Hailo Free, iPhone and Android Hailo is by cabbies, for cabbies. A smart, easy-to-use app, Hailo finds the nearest black cab, tells you how long it will take to pick you up and gives you the registration and driver's mobile number. Use the app's settings to add your credit card details and a tip of your choice. Easily the best way to travel by taxi in London.

Urbanspoon Free, iPhone, iPad and Android Urbanspoon scans your location and helps you find the closest restaurants, bars and more. You can search by type, price and rating. Good for anyone looking to try something new on the fly. Urbanspoon is fantastic for London but contains data on several other cities as well.

XE Currency Free, iPhone, iPad and Android XE Currency is the ultimate financial companion for world travellers. It gets live currency data and includes a calculator so you know exactly how much that 20 reais taxi journey is costing you or what kind of deal you're getting at the bank. Saves data for offline use as well.

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Spanish Dictionary Pro Free, Free, iPhone and iPad You may find you know the basic words of a language, but what about all the unfamiliar vocabulary? This app lets you search by English as well as Spanish words. The developers, iThinkDiff, have make similar dictionary apps in several other languages as well.

TubeExits £0.69, iPhone Savvy travellers on the London Underground know which carriage to board so their exit is as efficient as possible – what the French call la correspondence. TubeExits brings this information to the masses. Just type in your journey to find the best place to board the train. Works offline too.

Goings On: The New Yorker Free, iPhone, iPad and Android This is an unmissable listings app for Big Apple lovers that delivers the wit and wisdom of the New Yorker magazine. Look up events listed straight from their pages by choosing date, location or their critics’ picks that includes review. A handy, simple yet sophisticated app.

UK Bus checker £2.49, iPhone, iPad and Android The nationwide version of London Bus Checker now has real-time information for over 300,000 bus stops in the UK in 35 cities, route maps for every stop and best of all, an optional alert that rings when close to the weary traveller’s destination.

HotelTonight Free, iPhone, iPad and Android Every day at noon, three deals from trendy hotels are released in this same-day booking app. It only takes three taps to book, and discounts can range up to 70 per cent off. The deals are available US, Canada and only London in the UK, but there are plans to expand to more British cities.

Jetsetter Hotel and Travel deals Free, iPhone, iPad Members’ only website Jetsetter is known for their luxury flash sales and their slick app only precipitates more impulse travel-buying. Search by location, or by ‘collection’ – trips curated by their team – with cheeky titles such as ‘three day escape plan’ or ‘where the fashionistas sleep’. Every trip and hotel has a considered review from the prolific Jetsetter team.

Outdoors GPS Great Britain with National Parks OS Maps £4.99, iPhone, iPad With complete OS mapping combined with GPS in your mobile device, this app is the locational companion for the rambler or road-tripper. The road atlas and National Parks maps come with the app, and you can buy the full range of OS maps and recommended walks. Be warned – they are pricey and will take up lots of memory.

The Cartographer £2.49, iPhone, iPad Plan your trip with vintage-style maps that are designed to inspire the intrepid traveller. Using Google’s mymaps, outline the route before downloading the maps to your device which can be accessed through the app.

Google translate Free, iPhone, iPad and Android. This app translates between 64 languages, and can deliver audio translations for certain one. It doesn’t always get the translation right, but is probably the most comprehensive translation app out there.

Journey Pro 69p (ad-free), iPhone, iPad and Android The Journey Pro app directs you from station to station with real time updates. Plug in the time of departure and the stations at the beginning and end of your journey for a detailed and accurate itinerary.

Rough Guide Trip Lens Free, iPhone, iPad This app from the travel-guides helps document your travels through photos, text and maps into one continuous narrative, which you can share in a personalised blog. Great for extended exploring.

Skyscanner(Skyscanner) Free, iPhone, iPad and Android Tap your holiday destination and dates into the mobile version of the price-comparison website to see all the cheapest flight options around the dates you want to fly.

Yelp Free, iPhone, iPad and Android Get Yelp's enormous database of reviews on your smartphone. Includes reviews of restaurants, cafés, launderettes and more for the world's major metropolitan hubs.

Maverick Pro £3, Android Maverick Pro is the perfect app for adventurous Android users. The app provides offline GPS tracking and compass and saves your routes; perfect for hiking in the wilderness and escaping from it all.

National Trust Free, iPhone and Android The National Trust runs hundreds of beautiful sites all over the country, and this app has them all. Search their map and get information on the activities available, price of entry and opening times.

Street View on Google Maps Free, Android Google Street View comes to your phone via this Android app. Simply open Google Maps and zoom in to get a local look of where you're going.

London Bus Checker £1.99, iPhone and Android Londoners and tourists alike will find this real-time bus tracker. The app gives live updates of buses for all 20,000 bus stops in the city.

PetrolPrices Pro £2.99, iPhone, iPad and Android With petrol prices in constant flux, using this app is a no-brainer. PetrolPrices shows you the cheapest stations nearest you and lets you filter by type of petrol as well.